Third term of our government will start from June: PM Modi claims

New Delhi: Introducing the changing nature of railways under the current government, Prime Minister Modi said how railway projects are becoming a guarantee of employment. He said this while laying the foundation stone of about two thousand projects worth more than Rs 41 thousand crore through video conference. 550 railway stations in 300 districts will be modernized.

The PM also laid the foundation stone for redevelopment of a total of 553 railway stations under the Pradhan Mantri Amrit Bharat Yojana. These stations located in about 27 states and union territories will be redeveloped at a cost of more than Rs 19,000 crore.

He said that about ten years ago the Indian economy was at number 11 and at that time the average budget of the Railways was around Rs 45,000 crore. Today the country is the fifth largest economic power and its budget is about Rs 2.5 lakh crore.

He said that now imagine how much our power will increase when we become the third largest economic power in the world. He said that today the pace of laying railway lines from Jammu and Kashmir to the North-East has doubled. He said that when a new railway line is laid, everyone from laborers to engineers get work. There is a possibility of new jobs in many industries like cement, steel, transport.

He said that when the station becomes bigger and modern, more trains will stop. If more people come, the people around will also benefit. Railways promotes the products of small farmers, small artisans and Vishwakarma Saathis. Therefore, special shops have been created at stations under the one station, one production scheme. Thousands of stalls are being set up at our railway stations to help in selling the products.

Describing Indian Railways as the biggest carrier of agricultural and industrial progress, Modi said that speeding up the speed of railways will save time. This will help products like milk, fish, fruits to reach the market quickly. This will also save costs for industries. This will give a boost to Make in India and Self-reliant India campaign.